Tanzania: UN calls for probe into protests killings as hundreds face treason charges

The United Nations called on Tuesday for an investigation into the alleged killings of hundreds of people in protests that erupted during last month’s disputed elections in Tanzania.

The call for a probe comes as Tanzanian authorities have charged hundreds of people with treason over these demonstrations.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said there was “an apparent attempt [from the government] to conceal evidence” of protesters’ deaths.

This accusation follows reports that security forces were taking bodies of those killed in the violence from mortuaries to undisclosed locations.

Türk urged authorities to release bodies to families for funerals. “Reports of families desperately searching everywhere for their loved ones, visiting one police station after another and one hospital after another are harrowing," he said.

The main opposition party, Chadema, has said that about 2,000 people were killed during three days of protests following the disputed poll.

The government has yet to give an official death toll. The UN said “hundreds” of people are believed to have been killed but was unable to verify the figures due to the volatile security situation in Tanzania and the country's internet shutdown that lasted for six days after the elections.

The Catholic Church in Tanzania has condemned the recent killings of protesters and warned that there would be no peace without justice.

Tanzanian authorities have charged hundreds of people with treason over the demonstrations linked to the disputed 29 October poll.

Wanted suspects included Josephat Gwajima, an influential preacher who had his church deregistered earlier this year after he criticised the government over rights abuses.

Police have also issued arrest warrants for some of the nation’s top opposition officials who hadn’t yet been detained.

Chadema leader Tundu Lissu has already been jailed for several months and also faces treason charges, after he called for electoral reforms ahead of last month’s vote.